<p>jjjjoseph: I completely agree with you. My college counselor (who liked to discourage unconnected applicants from applying to Ivies because she was sure we would not get in) flat out told me, “Your chances would be even lower had you gone to [my local public high school].” I have a friend at Brown who went there, and she said that only a handful (maybe 4 or 5 out of at least 50 who applied) of applicants got into Brown. Most of them had connections.</p>
<p>That’s not to say it’s impossible to get in from public school. Many of my close friends are unhooked applicants who came from random public schools across the US.</p>
<p>But I would also like to say that prep schools are NOT the golden ticket. A third of my graduating class went to an Ivy, but a large number of them had some sort of connection (significantthink multiple generationslegacy, famous parents, trustee/powerful administrator parents, or something of the like). There were also a few recruits here and there. In some ways, it’s just as hard to be a white, middle class, unconnected applicant at a prep school because most of your classmates (to whom you will be compared) have hooks that the adcom cannot ignore.</p>